political perspectives from Joni Hudson-Reynolds, an African-American Mom

Hands Up, Hands down, Hands Less…Charles Kinsey is Still Black

Charles Kinsey is a behavioral specialist and he was attempting to coax an autistic young man back into the group home, but the police were called to the scene. Kinsey decided to lay down on the ground and put his hands up. This was a position that he believed would keep him safe. Wrong. He was shot anyway. He had his hands up and he was on the ground and he was shot in the leg. When asked the policeman why did he shoot him he was told I don’t know, but later in the day the police claimed they were trying to shoot the other young man and Kinsey was shot accidently, but one has to wonder why were guns drawn on two men who had no weapons. There is no question here. So often you hear conservative talking heads say there would have been no problem if the black man had just complied. It would seem a black man laying on the ground with his hands up would be complying but he was still shot. So please share the secret for not getting shot?

Comments

From my perspective, this shooting breaks just about every rule in the book. Basic firearm safety says that you do not point a firearm at anything you are not prepared to see it utterly destroyed. It also calls for you to know your target, and what’s behind it. Kinsey told the responding officers in vivid detail exactly what the situation was. In my mind there was no need to respond with sidearms drawn. These people need to lose their jobs, and possibly suffer legal prosecution.

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